The application of 'omics' to pulmonary arterial hypertension

Recent genome-wide analyses of rare and common sequence variations have brought greater clarity to the genetic architecture of pulmonary arterial hypertension and implicated novel genes in disease development. Transcriptional signatures have been reported in whole lung tissue, pulmonary vascular cells and peripheral circulating cells. High-throughput platforms for plasma proteomics and metabolomics have identified novel biomarkers associated with clinical outcomes and provided molecular instruments for risk assessment. There are methodological challenges to integrating these datasets, coupled to statistical power limitations inherent to the study of a rare disease, but the expectation is that this approach will reveal novel druggable targets and biomarkers that will open the way to personalized medicine. Here, we review the current state-of-the-art and future promise of 'omics' in the field of translational medicine in pulmonary arterial hypertension. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed issue on Risk factors, comorbidities, and comedications in cardioprotection. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v178.1/issuetoc.